Archive for the ‘1/6000 Battles’ Category

This weekend the local HMGS-South group played a fictitious naval battle set in the North Sea in May 1914. The British attempt to destroy the German fleet in the North Sea bases. The German fleet sails to fight in the Heligoland Bight. The scenario is based on the British strategy of destroying fleets which may become a threat (Copenhagen) (also), and the German concept of the Risikoflotte (risk fleet).

Both fleets have deployed into lines and approach on courses giving reasonable range rates. The head of the German line takes early damage and the rear is disrupted by British flotilla torpedo attacks. Those flotillas take heavy damage.

After more than four hours of play and 60 minutes of game time we called it a day. 5 British dreadnoughts were sunk and 2 were in a sinking condition. 2 German dreadnoughts were sunk and 1 was heavily damaged. The Germans could claim a tactical victory at this point but not a strategic victory.

This weekend the local HMGS-South group played a fictitious naval battle set in the North Sea during the Russo-Japanese War.

The Russo-Japanese War has been in progress since 1904. Historically, the Franco-Russian Alliance of 1894 did not require France to support Russia since no Triple Alliance member state was involved. The Anglo-Japanese Alliance of 1902 did not require Britain to support Japan since Japan was not at war with more than one state.

In this somewhat altered history, Germany has decided to spend money on the army and not build a large fleet. Anglo-German relations are good. France finds it necessary to support Russia due to the military balance in Europe. Japan, assuming that this is the case, attacks French assets in Asia. Thus France and Russia are at war with Japan and the Anglo-Japanese Alliance (Article 3) is invoked.

Each player had to give initial orders based only on seeing two clouds of smoke on the horizon.

The British maneuver to the east to get the leeward position. The Russian and French attempt to coordinate without being able to communicate.

The French have placed themselves between the British and the Russians.

The British concentrated their fire on the Russian ships and damaged all four of the Borodino class (the most valuable Russian ships). The French placed themselves between the British and the Russians. The Russians fought on, declining to leave the French to fight alone against a much larger British force. After about 3.5 hours of play and 70 minutes of game time, many of the heavy ships were low on ammunition. A minor British win perhaps, but all sides acquitted themselves well.

This weekend the local HMGS-South group played a fictitious naval battle set in the Adriatic in WW1. On June 15, 1915, a few weeks after the Italian declaration of war on Austria-Hungary, the Austro-Hungarian fleet sails to attack Brindisi and to lure out Italian fleet. The Italians are alerted and hope to avenge Lissa.

The rear divisions of each fleet are not yet in sight and not on the table.

Both sides manage torpedo launches at the opposite battle lines.

Markers indicate visible torpedo launches.

After four hours of play we ended the game with the Austro-Hungarians having lost 2 battleships and all their destroyers and the Italians having lost most of their destroyers. Several cruisers on both sides were badly shot up.

This weekend the local HMGS-South group played a Russo-Japanese War naval battle based on the Battle of Tsushima. In order to make the game more balanced, the Russian ships were not handicapped to reflect their historical performance.

We called the game after about 4.5 hours of play (90 minutes of game time). The damage was fairly even at that point. The Russian battleships were low on main gun ammunition and several were completely out, so their ability to continue the fight was limited.

This weekend the local HMGS-South group played a WWI naval game using a modified version of a scenario tested previously.

This fleet action is based on the Triple Alliance naval convention of 1913, as described in “The Great War at Sea” by Sondhaus. The plan was for the Italian and Austro-Hungarian fleets and any German ships in the Mediterranean to engage the French Fleet and block the Algerian troop transports. This scenario assumes that the war starts in February 1914, and that the British Mediterranean squadron joins the French.

This weekend the local HMGS-South group played a World War One naval game based on this March 9th 1915 memo (item 121 Jellicoe Papers) from the 1st Lord of the Admiralty. The idea was to send a fast division into the Baltic Sea and, in cooperation with the Russian fleet, blockade German ports. The Germans send the ships that were in the Baltic for training exercises.

A hypothetical battle between an Australian squadron including the battlecruiser Australia and von Spee’s squadron. The Australia takes significant damage. The Gneisenau runs out of 21 cm shells (her primary battery), in part because while the Australia was firing at Scharnhorst, Gneisenau could keep up a higher rate of fire. According to the NAVWEAPS site, the Scharnhorst class had 87.5 rounds per 21 cm gun.

The historical battle between Cradock’s squadron and von Spee’s squadron. The Scharnhorst runs out of 21 cm shells and the Gneisenau nearly runs out. This may be because the range was generally longer than in the actual battle, or because the penalties on rate of fire for poor visibility are not severe enough.

The fight between the pre-dreadnought battleship Canopus and the armored cruisers Scharnhorst and Gneisenau. Both armored cruisers ran out of 21 cm shells and the Canopus was finished off with the 15 cm secondary batteries. Torpedoes may have been a better choice. If this encounter had occurred historically, low ammunition after the Coronel battle would probably have caused von Spee to avoid Canopus.

A battle between Cradock’s squadron, reinforced by the armored cruiser Defence, and von Spee’s squadron. This is a lot closer fight than the actual battle. With Scharnhorst sunk and Gneisenau out of 21 cm shells, von Spee’s squadron would probably break up into individual raiders.

The historical battle between Sturdee’s battlecruisers and von Spee’s armored cruisers. The battlecruisers took more damage than in the actual battle, possibly because von Spee’s armored cruisers did not try to run.

A hypothetical battle between Sturdee’s squadron and von Spee’s squadron, assuming that von Spee attacks before Sturdee is underway. The scenario in the book started with the Gneisenau and the Nurnberg approaching Stanley and the rest of von Spee’s squadron 15 nautical miles away. To give von Spee more of a chance, this exercise assumes that he approached with his squadron together. Timings for Sturdee’s ships getting underway are from Corbett, not from Owen’s book.

For the 100th anniversary of the battle of Jutland, the positions of the fleets at about 6 pm were set up, and various options for the deployment of the Grand Fleet were discussed.

No formal game was attempted since it would have taken more time than was available, but the capital ships were run through the deployment with automated targeting while we talked. The light forces were mostly ignored, but several torpedo attacks occurred anyway due to the initial courses. Since the German fleet did not turn away, the damage was much greater than historically. The poor visibility, particularly toward the north and east, allowed several devastating torpedo attacks.

This weekend the local HMGS-South group played a WWI naval battle. In this hypothetical engagement, the Germans send a portion of the High Seas Fleet into the Gulf of Finland in an attempt to engage and destroy the Russian Baltic Fleet. The date is March 15, 1915. The scenario is similar to a previous test.

German CLs form up and attack the threatening Russian DDs to the north.

German DNs maneuver to avoid Russian torpedo attacks. The Russian boats are heavily damaged by German CLs.

German DNs and CLs evade torpedo attacks.

We quit at this point due to time. The damage was relatively even. The Russian destroyers and torpedo boats and the German light cruisers did most of the fighting. One dreadnought had been sunk on each side.

This fleet action is based on the Triple Alliance naval convention of 1913, as described in “The Great War at Sea” by Sondhaus. The plan was for the Italian and Austro-Hungarian fleets and any German ships in the Mediterranean to engage the French Fleet and block the Algerian troop transports. This scenario assumes that the war starts in February 1914, and that the British Mediterranean squadron joins the French.

Due to the generally longer ranges of the Triple Alliance guns, the French and British ships were under fire and unable to respond for the first few turns. Both sides had difficulty forming coherent battle lines due to the wide variation in ship speeds and capabilities. The Goeben and Dante Alighieri eventually destroyed the three British battlecruisers. Based on the situation when we quit, the French Algerian troops could be very late arriving in France.